Inaugural PokerUpdate Online Poker Awards WINNERS!

Voting for the Inaugural PokerUpdate Online Poker Awards is in the books and we have tabulated the winners. Over the last week, fans from around the world have cast their votes over several categories choosing the best in everything from online poker apps to the best Twitter personality.

Below is a complete list of winners and why we felt they won. If you didn’t win or felt you were snubbed in the contest, leave a comment below. Better still, monetary bribes are appreciate. We take Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, Cash and PayPal.

Best Poker Media Site – Winner: PokerNews

When this category was first devised, most of us assumed that it would be PokerNews and everyone else and the voting supported that conclusion. PokerNews easily won this award after garnering 54% of the total vote.

The next closest, PokerFuse, drew a little less than half at 26%. PokerNews is widely considered as the premier online poker news and information site in the world. They cover all the major live events in some capacity and their content touches on every aspect of the poker world.

Best Online Poker App – Winner: WPT Poker Trainer

Fans were relatively split on this one with all nominees receiving a solid share of votes. In the end, it was the WPT Poker Trainer that won with 27% of the vote. Poker Journal and Poker Notes Live also cracked 20%.

It is clear that poker players want more than mere simulation training with their apps. However, it was a simulator that took the reward. What ultimately pushed the WPT Poker Trainer over the top was a solid design and their affiliation with the World Poker Tour.

Best Online Poker Forum – Winner: 2+2

The voting in this category was close to what we expected. 2+2 Forums took 48% of the vote with PocketFives coming in at 30%. We joked how forums like 2+2 consist of users who like to exchange shrunken penis pics and farting monkey memes. The truth is that users such as those are why 2+2 won this award.

But joking aside (sort of), in addition to being a great source of information on most things poker, they are also the premier gossip board for live and online poker. If there is a scandal of any type in the poker world, you will learn and make fun of it at 2+2.

Best Online Poker Training Software – Winner: TournamentPokerEdge.com

This category was a two horse race between Cardrunners and Tournament Poker Edge. In the end, Tournament Poker Edge took it down with 52% of the vote. Cardrunners showed well, taking 31%. You have players that swear by both sites but Tournament Poker Edge took the award based on the sheer volume of material they offer for both live and online poker players. Their massive staff covers nearly every buy-in level imaginable and opens up the coaching game to all skill levels.

Best Online Poker Promotion – Winner: PokerStars $1 Million Freerolls

As if there was going to be any other winner for this category. PokerStars will hold a total of four $1 million freerolls throughout the year with a top prize of $20k and up to 50,000 players receiving a payday.

The math is simple. Free + Free = Let’s play some poker for free. Rake hikes? What rake hikes? We get a shot at $4 million for free. Weapons of mass distraction win every time folks.

Best Online Poker Tournament – Winner: PokerStars WCOOP

PokerStars ran away with this one as well with the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) earning 45% of the vote. The Spring COOP came in 2nd with 27%. The WCOOP is the premier online poker series on the web. If there is one title that you want to win, it is this one.

Best Twitter Personality – Winner: Kevmath

In a bit of an upset, Kevmath edged out Daniel Negreanu for best Twitter personality. The newly crowned WSOP Twitter Czar took 43% of the vote versus 33% for Negreanu. Negreanu may be poker’s crown prince; Kevmath is the go to resource for poker information online. The WSOP even wised up and hired him to run their Twitter accounts this summer. (Why not. He was basically doing their job last year anyway.)

Kevmath has earned the respect of most of the poker world through continued hard work and love for the game and is deserving of this reward. Besides, Daniel is running out of room in his trophy case. It’s time for someone else to get some awards.

James Guill

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James Guill began his poker career in 2006, spending two years traveling the US tournament circuit. Since 2008, he has covered the game extensively for some of the biggest names in the industry. When not writing about the latest poker news, he can be found hunting for antique treasures in Central Virginia.